The global alpha emitters market was valued at approximately USD 5000 million in 2017 and is expected to register a CAGR of approximately 9% during the forecast period. North America holds the largest geographical market, with a share of approximately 47% of the global market.

Increasing Incidence of Cardiac and Cancer Ailments

The American Cancer Society, the leading body in cancer stats and figures, reported 1,685,210 estimated new cancer cases and 595,690 deaths, owing to cancer, in 2016. The US National Cancer Institute reported that more than 60% of the world’s new cancer cases occur in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. About 70% of the world’s cancer deaths also occur in these regions. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) predicts - by 2030, the global burden is expected to grow to 21.7 million new cancer cases and 13 million cancer deaths simply due to a growth and aging of the population, leaving aside factors, like smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity, and fewer childbirths, in economically developing countries. Any other doubts about cancer being one of the major life threatening diseases in present time can be cleared by looking at the data presented by WHO, which states that 8.2 million people die every year from cancer, an estimated 13% of all deaths, worldwide. An increase of 70% is predicted in new cases of cancer expected over the next two decades and to top it all, more than 100 cancer types exist, requiring unique diagnosis and treatment. This global and extensive threat of cancer remains a major market driver for new cancer therapies involving alpha emitters and monoclonal antibody.

Stringent regulatory framework

The global production of radiopharmaceuticals, unlike conventional pharmaceuticals production, is still in the nascent stage. Implementing cGMP guidelines, which are applicable for the drug industry, is both difficult and expensive. For small-scale manufacturers of radiopharmaceuticals, ensuring cGMP compliance is a demanding task. Application of clean room requirements in radioisotope laboratories is technically demanding as they are required to conform to both radiological and pharmaceutical safety standards.

Additionally, there are problems associated with the transportation of radioactive materials. Some countries follow a practice of holding up all the cargo at the airports, at times, for a pre-destined period (24 to 48 hours) before being loaded on the plane, as part of security check standards. This practice affects the radiopharmaceuticals due to additional decay losses, especially when dealing with short-lived radioactive materials. Hence, stringent regulatory framework, delays in transportation, and lack of transportation compliance, along with the fragile nature of radiopharmaceuticals with short half-life, are impeding the growth of the alpha emitters market.

US is the Largest Consumer Market for Radiopharmaceuticals

The market for alpha-emitters in the United States is growing rapidly. The United States accounted for the largest global market share in 2017. The high-end research trend in the United States, coupled with high investments in healthcare research and abundant knowledge in cancer research, is the key factor propelling the growth of the market in the country. The government initiatives and trends toward the adoption of technologically-advanced products for healthcare are also fuelling the market growth. The United States also has the largest market for monoclonal antibodies. Many researches are being carried on by radiolabelling monoclonal antibodies with alpha emitters. The drug with high efficacy will create a huge market due to high unmet need of curative cancer therapeutics. Actinium Pharmaceuticals, based in New York, United States, is one of the key players in this market and is carrying out breakthrough research in the field.

Key Developments in the Market

December 2017: The US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) and South African Nuclear Energy Corporation’s NTP Radioisotopes SOC Ltd (NTP) completed the conversion of their critical medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) production process from highly-enriched uranium (HEU) to low-enriched uranium (LEU)

November 2017: Actinium Pharmaceuticals launched the AWE Program aka Actinium Warhead Enabling Program to enable collaborations based on Its Actinium-225 Technology Platform

November 2017: Alpha Tau Medical entered a collaboration with IRST Italy to treat its first cancer patients. This is a significant progress toward international expansion. It will enable the availability of Alpha DaRT radiotherapy not only in Israel but in Europe, Asia, as well as the United States.

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